Manta, Manabí Province, Ecuador
So we have been back in San Carlos for a week now. It has taken this long to get over some jetlag, sort through pictures and do a bit of laundry. All that said, we had a fantastic time in Ecuador. We want to give a big shout out to the Franco Family in Montecristi for their hospitality and our Canadian friends Marg and Stu for letting us crash at their place for a couple of weeks.
It was the end of the rainy season in Ecuador, so things were lushly green. That did mean however, that the humidity was very high. While I like the heat, poor Tim does not feel the same. Every day was round the 30 degree mark, but humidity made it feel like the 40's. Much sweating occurred! Even though it was "mucho calor" we went for a round of golf, walked around town and the beach. Due to the tides being wrong we didn't get out to the Donkey Den for Sunday breakfast, though we did make it to the beach for Saturday lunch. We also hooked up with our Ecuadorian friend Fernando and visited his coffee shop. We also had some cut throat games of tiles and Mexican train with Marg, Stu and Aussie friend Brian. Not kidding about the cut throat! It was good to go back and visit a lot of our friends.
There where many new and exciting things to see in Manta, as many of the major construction projects had finished after we returned to Canada last year. For example, the huge bus terminal is now up and running (construction had start in 2014, stopped, started). It moved all the busses out of downtown Manta into a bright, clean new terminal. Huge improvement. The terminal even has a food court and a grocery store.
The huge mall, Mall de Pacifica, that was under construction, opened shortly after we left last spring. It was fun to take a walk through and see it all. You would never know you were in a third world country. The food court is huge and hosts the largest screens I have ever seen. They can accommodate about 1500 people to watch sporting events on the big screens. When Barcelona is playing (soccer), at least that many are in attendance!
The grocery store where we used to shop is now located in the mall and is about 4 times the size! Kinda like a super Walmart now. The home store where we purchased many items has doubled in size as well. It was interesting to see that the government had changed some of its tax laws, bringing the prices of imported goods back into the affordable range! That also allowed a Mega Kiwi to open in the old location of the grocery store and home store. Tim was like a kid in a candy store wandering around. Mega Kiwi is like a huge HomeDepot. Great addition for Manta.
We also were able to walk on the sidewalks......really sidewalks.......to go visit some friends, Joanne and Mike, at the Poseidon (where we stayed last winter). All the construction that we used to walk through was finished. Beautiful sidewalks, lights and plants made it nice to be able to walk at any time of the day or night. The restaurants that managed to stay open during all the construction were thriving. So good to see.
I don't think that Tim and I have ever eaten so much food in two weeks! Although we had a riot doing so. Between the meals served at Marg and Stu's, the meals served to us by the Franco's at their store and the dinners out.........we need to do some serious excercise! Everywhere we went seemed to include food! Not that we are complaining.........
Besides hooking up with our friends, our real purpose of our trip was to stand up as Padrinos for Jami at her high school graduation. What a huge honour that was. One to be asked, two to be included in a wonderful family and three, to be fortunate enough to attend. Padrinos means godparents. The graduation ceremony was wonderful and the formal reception was amazing as well. We had a couple of jobs to do - pinning the sash on Jami at the Graduation ceremony and walking her in to the reception. Tim even got to dance the first dance as her Padrino! A big thank you goes to our Ecuadorian family for sharing such a special time with us and making us part of the family.
It was a jammed packed busy couple of weeks. We did get to spend some time enjoying the beach, pool and sunshine. We enjoyed our time with the Francos, even managing to sell a couple of Panama hats! We managed to bring home a few more things from Ecuador, surprise, surprise! There is a lot to draw us back to Ecuador, I am sure we will travel that way again.
Jim Forrest
2018-03-22
Great pictures and obviously lots of fun. Happy for you! Great to see!
Jim Binns
2018-03-22
Nice to see pictures from graduation. What a nice ceremony. My youngest Franklin graduates from grade 12 in June and off to university in the fall. All the best.
Barb & Dale
2018-03-23
Looks like a lovely time. It is special to have international friends who make you feel like family!!
Sarina
2018-03-23
I just have to say you guys look amazing. Retirement really becomes both of you. Miss you!
Nola
2018-03-30
Looks like you had a great time and have found lots of new friends. Hopefully the snow will be gone soon so you can enjoy golfing here.